Hi fam. If you’re a college student, you’re probably thinking: I need a W job this Spring, but I can’t find anything that pays and will be a cool experience.

Well, what if you could have both? What if you could be the main character? What if it “hit different”?

With our upcoming Campus Rep Program, you can have it all. Cash, valuable experience with a rising star in the digital media space aka The DONUT, and exposure to enough cool slang in our company Slack channel to last a lifetime. Aka it’s bussin’, no 🧢.

Apply now by filling out this form.

🚀⏰ Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news takes 3.72 minutes to read.

“Where there is anger, there is always pain underneath.”

–Eckhart Tolle (b. 1948)

Attention, parents – you can now see how you stack up vs. the history of humanity. According to a new peer-reviewed study published last week in Science Advances, researchers at Indiana University have developed a method that can determine the average age humans had children throughout our species’ history.

☝️🧬 First things, first… All children inherit DNA from their parents, which typically contains between 25 and 75 new mutations per offspring. After studying these mutations across thousands of children, the IU researchers noticed something: the kinds of DNA mutations these children received depended on the ages of their mothers and fathers.

Using this insight, the scientists developed a computer model that was used to analyze samples of human DNA dating back to the Stone Age.

📊 The results: The average age that humans became parents throughout the past 250,000 years is 26.9, with fathers averaging 30.7 years of age compared to 23.2 for mothers.

But over the past 5,000 years, the age gap between parents has shrunk. The most recent estimate for average maternal age worldwide is 26.4 years, per the study, while the average age of fathers has remained ~30 years throughout that whole period.

🇺🇸 Zoom in: But let’s forget the distant past for a sec – what about the last few decades? Well just like an elevator to the penthouse, the age of parents has gone up, up, up.

Between 1970 and 2000, the average age of US mothers increased from 24.6 years to 27.2 years, per the latest available CDC data. Meanwhile, the median age of US mothers has increased from 27 to 30 over the past three decades to reach its highest level on record.

🇩🇰 Noma, a Danish restaurant widely hailed as the best in the world, is closing its doors. The Michelin 3-star restaurant has been led for the past two decades by creator René Redzepi (☝️), who’s often referred to as the most brilliant and influential chef of his era. But yesterday, Redzepi announced plans to close Noma for regular service at the end of 2024, calling the entire fine-dining business model “unsustainable.” Instead, Noma will turn into a full-time food laboratory that’ll develop products for its e-commerce operation.

🇧🇷 Brazil’s Supreme Court temporarily removed the governor of its capital city late Sunday, hours after protesters stormed government buildings. The Court accused Brasília’s governor of allowing more than 100 buses full of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro to enter government property without a police escort. Brazilian authorities said they arrested 1,200 more protesters yesterday, in addition to ~300 people on Sunday. Separately, former President Bolsonaro was hospitalized in Florida on Monday due to stomach pains related to injuries he suffered during a near-fatal stabbing on the campaign trail in 2018.

🇲🇽 Mexico revealed yesterday that 3,500+ soldiers were involved in last week’s operation that led to the arrest of El Chapo’s son. The arrest, which Mexican officials said was months in the making, wreaked havoc in the state of Sinaloa and its capital city Culiacán, leaving at least 19 suspected cartel gunmen and 10 Mexican soldiers dead. Despite coming under fire at the airport, authorities managed to load El Chapo’s son on a plane and fly him to Mexico City, though the process of extraditing him to the US was later placed on hold by a federal judge.

🍃 Why would you want to join the 15 million people in the U.S. who have kratom every day?

☕️Many first try it because they want an energizing boost, but need a break from excessive coffee drinking. People have said it helps them get through a day of work/chores by improving their mood and making them feel motivated.

🧘‍♂️ Some like drinking kratom tea after a long day to help them unwind. Others utilize its calming, centering effects to get the most out of meditation sessions.

🥂 And lots of people drink kratom tea as an evening socializer among friends - they love the relaxing effects that let them flow into good conversation.

🤔 Wondering about a good tea for first-timers? Our friends at Top Tree Herbs recommend Super Green Malay - it’s green vein kratom, meaning you get the best of both worlds: focus and relaxation.

🍩🫖 And DONUT readers can save 20% on their first order (+ FREE shipping) with code DONUT20!

Shop high-quality kratom tea at Top Tree!

How is Instagram similar to pollution and illegal gambling?

It’s also a public nuisance, according to a lawsuit filed last Friday by Seattle’s public school district, which is accusing TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Snapchat of knowingly building and marketing their products to maximize revenue and keep young users engaged.

Having been called to a courtroom more times than Saul Goodman, Big Tech is no stranger to legal battles. Though they’ve historically been protected from liability by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which says platforms cannot be held liable for user generated content.

But the SPS’ case goes after the platforms themselves, arguing social media companies are “[exploiting] the vulnerable brains of youth” by actively recommending harmful content.

🤔 What does the science say?... Like the FB status, it’s… complicated. A 2020 meta-analysis of meta-analyses (aka the holy grail of statistical reviews) found that increased use of digital technology led to a small negative effect on well-being, but a causal link was difficult to pinpoint.

More recently, a UNC study published in JAMA Pediatrics last week found that students reporting habitual social media use – defined as checking more than 15x per day – are becoming “hypersensitive to feedback from their peers,” as demonstrated by a distinct brain development trajectory when compared to children who didn’t use social media frequently.

All Disney staffers will soon be required to spend at least four days per week in the office for the first time in three years, according to a memo sent to employees by CEO Bob Iger yesterday. Apparently it’s a small an in-person world, after all.

And on that note: Disney isn’t alone in its back-to-the-office push. Apple, Twitter, Snap, Vanguard, and Paycom have all ordered employees to return to working primarily in-person over recent months.

• As it currently sits, the office occupancy rate across America’s 10 largest cities is just under 50% – though that could soon begin to climb.

📸 Big picture: According to Iger, the return to in-person work is intended to boost movie/TV creative processes, as well as the company’s culture in general. And he may not be alone in that thought – some 70% of company managers in the US want their workers to be in the office all five days a week, per a recent survey from Fiverr. (Which may have something to do with why 14% of all US job positions advertised in September offered remote work, down from an all-time high of 20% in February, per the latest LinkedIn data.)

💬 Quoted…​​ “This is a hidden hazard.”

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission is planning to take action to reduce air pollutants emitted by gas stoves – which are currently used in ~40% of US homes – with officials saying a nationwide ban on all such stoves is on the table.

• More than 1 in every 8 cases of childhood asthma in the US can be attributed to indoor pollution emitted by gas stoves, per new peer-reviewed research published last month.

👶⚽ Stat of the Day: The number of newborn children named Lionel or Lionela has increased by 700% in Lionel Messi's home province since Argentina’s World Cup victory, according to local newspaper La Capital.

🤯 Did You Know?... The two attorneys currently representing FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in his criminal fraud case also defended Ghislaine Maxwell and Mexican cartel leader ‘El Chapo.’

📖 Worth a Read: How two sisters monopolized the identical-twins business → (The Hustle)

• ☝️ You’re looking at some of the winners of the LensCulture Black & White Awards 2022.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 🌾🛻 John Deere will allow farmers to repair their own farm equipment, reversing its long-standing requirement that all repairs go through the company.
• 🪙 FTX’s new management is asking nonprofits to return charitable donations that it previously made while ex-CEO and founder Sam Bankman-Fried was in charge; the bankrupt crypto exchange is also attempting to claw back political donations made by SBF and other employees.
• ⚖️ Former McDonald’s CEO Stephen Easterbrook was fined $400,000 by the SEC for lying to the company’s investors about why he was fired in November 2019.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

• 📱 YouTube will share ad revenue with Shorts creators beginning in February 2023, the company announced yesterday. | Also starting in February, Instagram will remove the Shop tab from the app’s main navigation and return the Compose button to the center of the screen, the company said yesterday.
• 🏈 Damar Hamlin was released from the ICU yesterday and flown to a Buffalo hospital for continued care; the Bills safety "appears to be neurologically completely intact," per his doctors. | After losing their 10th straight game last Sunday, the Chicago Bears secured the first overall pick in this year’s NFL draft.
• 🏆 Georgia beat TCU 65-7 last night to win their second straight CFB National Championship. | Wondering what TCU fans were chanting last night? Here’s a deep dive into the “Riff Ram.”

SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🌎 The use of airborne ozone-depleting chemicals is declining for the first time in recorded history, per a new report from UN-backed scientists.
• 🧬 Modern humans still contain the genes for a full-body coat of fur – they’re simply turned off, according to a new peer-reviewed study from University of Pittsburgh researchers.
• 🐒 Capuchin monkeys, not humans, created a set of ancient 50,000-year-old stone tools discovered in Brazil, a new peer-reviewed study suggests.

EVERYTHING ELSE

• 🏥 More than 7,000 nurses at two NYC hospitals went on strike Monday, after contract talks broke down over pay and staffing levels.
• ⛈ President Biden declared a state of emergency in California following a series of storms that hit the state; as of yesterday, ~34 million Californians were under a flood watch.
• 🏛️ House Republicans approved a new rules package yesterday that will govern the chamber’s procedures for the next two years. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)
• 📑 Obama-era classified documents were found late last year at President Biden’s think tank in Washington, D.C., according to a statement the president’s attorney made yesterday. (From the Left | From the Center | From the Right)

CLICKBAIT

• 😴 Is napping good for you? We ask the experts.

Yesterday, we covered the concessions House Speaker Kevin McCarthy agreed to in order to become elected, after four days and 14 previous failed votes.

❓ Our question to you: How do you feel about the listed concessions that House Speaker McCarthy made to get elected?

• 👍 I agree with all of them: 15%
• 📈 I agree with most of them: 22%
• ↔️ I don’t feel strongly either way: 7%
• 📉 I disagree with most of them: 29%
• 👎 I disagree with all of them: 17%
• 🤷 Unsure/other: 10%

Click here to read some of the best responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 8,791 votes, and 665 longform responses.

Travel-lovers Ali Irani and Sujoy Kumar Mitra recently broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to travel to all seven continents. 

• The Indian duo left from Antarctica on December 4th, and landed in Australia on December 7th – precisely 3 days, 1 hour, 5 minutes, and 4 seconds after they started their trip.

✈️🌍 Catching the travel bug... While the men are proud of their accomplishment, they know someone else may take the title soon enough. 

• “Traveling transcends boundaries and unites people around the world," said Ali. "Breaking a world record for something we both are so passionate about is a very satisfying feeling. We are humbled by this achievement and hope it will contribute in some way to get more people to travel and explore our beautiful world.” 

It’s called Positive DONUT, and we think you should check it out.

This 100% free newsletter hits inboxes each Tuesday with nothing but non-cheesy good news that’ll make you cheese.👇

Subscribe here for free.

🕺 Trivia: Which album did David Bowie release in 1983?

🏇 True or False?... Only horses that are 2 years old may compete in the Kentucky Derby.

🤔 Riddle Me This… When you have one, you have none. What are they?

(keep scrolling for the answers)

👆 Check out the referral prizes you can get, just for introducing people you know to little old us. 

What to do: Copy your unique link below, then send it to anyone who you think would like the DONUT. Once you hit each milestone, you'll get an email with a link to claim your prize. (Pro tip: there's no need to ration points, you're entitled to a prize at each tier.)

Start referring.👇

🕺 Trivia: Let’s Dance

🏇 T/F: False, only 3-year-old horses may compete. 

🤔 Riddle: Options